The penultimate chapter.
NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE
For all intents and purposes, the Battle of Coruscant was over.
The Alliance owed much of its thanks to the massive giant who had suddenly appeared and begun crushing the Glorians with its feet. Not long after, Admiral Sovv reported that the Glorian feet was in disarray, with some even retreating.
Then, a ball of flame ignited the sky. The Star Forge was destroyed.
Many on the surface began cheering. The remaining Glorians threw down their arms and surrendered. The war was over.
Or was it? Perhaps it was General Hawk's reluctance in trusting the Glorians to not have something up their sleeves. Or perhaps it was because no one knew who the Glorian leader was and if they were indeed on the Star Forge when it was destroyed.
Either way, he was not yet ready to exhale in relief.
* * *
Shortly after ejecting from the Star Forge, Anakin's escape pod had been retrieved by an Alliance cruiser, and its sole occupant was led to the bridge, where Admiral Vral Chaar stood. From there, Anakin watched as the Glorian fleet began to fall apart. Not long after, the Star Forge vanished in an orb of fire.
It was done. Toah Jarsan has sacrificed himself to bring an end to the Glorian Empire and its war. He had given his life to save the galaxy a second time.
...Or had he? As much as Anakin was certain that Toah was gone, he could still feel the Jedi's presence through the Force.
"Sir," a voice said. "We have another rescuee."
Anakin and Chaar turned to see a Mon Calamari officer standing beside a Besalisk dressed in torn Jedi robes.
"Master Kil!" Anakin said.
Plun Kil gave him a rare smile. "In the flesh."
"How did you get back? Where are the others who vanished?"
Kil's smile faded. "I'm afraid most of them died in the explosion. I survived only because I was freed by an unexpected ally...."
Anakin stepped back, just now feeling the great disturbance in the Force created by all of these deaths. "And Toah?"
The Besalisk bit his lower lip. "He was with me when we escaped to the pods, but ended up taking separate ones. I lost sight of his pod when your cruiser retrieved mine."
"He must've been picked up by another cruiser," Chaar said. "Our scanners are very sensi-"
"Stars alive!" cried a bridge officer. "What's an exogorth doing here?"
Anakin and the others turned to see exactly what the officer had mentioned; a massive space work flying through the wreckage of the Star Forge, pursuing a fleeing mynock. As the others looked on in bewilderment, Anakin smiled in realization. "Animus."
* * *
"You're insane!" Waru cackled as he fled from the exogorth. "I know you, Animus! You served in my empire for a time. You probably only have ten minutes left to live!"
"Probably." The space slug's voice boomed in Waru's mind. "But that should be enough time to kill you."
Waru laughed again as he morphed into a Duinuogquin. "And they call me the crazy one."
"Sometimes, crazy works." Moving faster than an average exogorth, Animus slammed his massive body into Waru's and the two giants went tumbling through space.
As they brawled through the vacuum, Waru clawed at Animus with his numerous limbs. But now matter how much blood he drew, his constantly-morphing opponent kept striking back, more vicious than before. Feeling his strength beginning to wain, Waru attempted to breathe a blast of fire, to no avail. In short time, he was deprived of energy.
But he was not keen on admitting defeat. As Waru backed away from Animus, who was now in the form of a winged creature, the latter chuckled.
"Your body's dying, Waru. So am I. And with no body to inhabit, your spirit will be nothing but an intangible phantom."
Waru grinned. "Never underestimate someone not of your universe."
Faster than one could say "Duinuogwuin", Waru forced his spirit out of the Avatar's body and shot towards Animus'. Once he was within his opponents mind, he had expected to be given full control of the shape-shifter's body. Instead, he was given an extreme world of pain.
Voices thought silenced cried out again. He saw the burning stars of Horuset, Kashyyyk, and Kaal bursting out of the void of space and returning to their rightful place, along with their orbiting planets.
"Your plans are being undone, Waru," Animus said. "The people whom you've killed are crying out in joy."
"Because it's time to go home."
The moment those words had passed Animus' lips, the darkness of space began to part and a portal of light appeared before him. Watching through the shape-shifter's eyes, Waru recognized the realm beyond the portal to be his universe.
His dying universe. The universe from which he and Valtheran hailed from.
"No," Waru murmured. "Not there... any thing but there! You'll kill us both!"
"That's the plan," Animus said with a grin. "Because, frankly, I've nothing else to lose."
Waru could do nothing but scream as Animus carried him through the portal. As the rift between universes closed, the Watcher had seen his last.
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